Vineet Velagandula Found Poem Theme: Fear, Despair, Retrospection
World War II Holocaust “That was when I stopped speaking to god”
I was a survivor One of the Jews
My family All murdered Their families All murdered
The cruelty My children My family They will never take them from me They shot all of them
Let me die too! I don’t want to live!
Auschwitz Ghetto We had nowhere to hide
Starving, Shivering The walking dead The skeletons “Bring them to the Crematorium!”
Gas Chambers, Crematoriums, Mass Graves All on the left side I was sent to the right side Worried, Sick, Afraid This is the end
The bunks Full of dead bodies The inhumanity of man against man The barbarity
I wake up so cold and starving I don’t want to live Let me die So close to death
Final Solution Program The irrationality Hitler was already losing the War The final destruction of the Jews The SS had to dig special pits to burn the bodies The dogs ran up and down Hardly any survived
Help Us! So close to death
I heard a conversation “The Americans!” We did not know what was happening Worried
Americans, Germans Killing We were afraid War Poland is in ruins
The transports are coming Free
Why did I survive? Why did God spare me? Why not my family?
I was a survivor One of the surviving Jews My family All murdered Why did I survive and not my family and children?
I’ve seen many a horrible sight And I blame man not God Hitler, Nazis, Germans How did I survive?
Rationale
I chose the themes of Fear and Retrospection because I wanted to make this poem from the perspective of a Jew who experienced the horrors of the Holocaust. In the beginning of the poem, I start out with a Holocaust survivor talking about her past, and how the cruelty of the deaths of her family and children led her into despair. This is where the theme of despair comes in, with the idea that she does not want to live, remembering all of the horrid experiences from her past. From this comes the second part of the poem. This is where the theme of retrospection comes in, because she gives a summary of what happens in her life, starting at Auschwitz, and ending at the rescue from the Germans by the Americans. I decided to use this theme because in The Last Days, the Holocaust survivors were remembering their experiences and bringing them back to life in the movie. During this time they spoke of the horrors they faced, and they usually cried. This brought me to express the despair that the Holocaust survivors faced during and after the Holocaust. My final theme is fear. Fear was a large part of the Holocaust, because every single Jew in Europe during this time period felt fear, whether it was them going into Auschwitz, them being taken from their houses, or they families being killed. The last part of the poem can either be directly after the Jews are rescued, or back to the time period in the first part of the poem. This can be interpreted either way, as long as it is taking place after the rescue of the person from Auschwitz. My poem contained three parts because I felt that this was essential in understanding the emotion of the people during this time period. The second part talks about the actual experiences during the Holocaust, while the first part talks about the feelings of the person today. The last part is the person thinking back on all of her memories after she relived them in her mind, and talking about how she survived, but not her family. This poem represents the themes of fear, despair, and the idea of retrospection, all in different ways that are shown in the people during the Holocaust.
Found Poem
Theme: Fear, Despair, Retrospection
World War II
Holocaust
“That was when I stopped speaking to god”
I was a survivor
One of the Jews
My family
All murdered
Their families
All murdered
The cruelty
My children
My family
They will never take them from me
They shot all of them
Let me die too!
I don’t want to live!
Auschwitz
Ghetto
We had nowhere to hide
Starving, Shivering
The walking dead
The skeletons
“Bring them to the Crematorium!”
Gas Chambers, Crematoriums, Mass Graves
All on the left side
I was sent to the right side
Worried, Sick, Afraid
This is the end
The bunks
Full of dead bodies
The inhumanity of man against man
The barbarity
I wake up so cold and starving
I don’t want to live
Let me die
So close to death
Final Solution Program
The irrationality
Hitler was already losing the War
The final destruction of the Jews
The SS had to dig special pits to burn the bodies
The dogs ran up and down
Hardly any survived
Help Us!
So close to death
I heard a conversation
“The Americans!”
We did not know what was happening
Worried
Americans, Germans
Killing
We were afraid
War
Poland is in ruins
The transports are coming
Free
Why did I survive?
Why did God spare me?
Why not my family?
I was a survivor
One of the surviving Jews
My family
All murdered
Why did I survive and not my family and children?
I’ve seen many a horrible sight
And I blame man not God
Hitler, Nazis, Germans
How did I survive?
Rationale
I chose the themes of Fear and Retrospection because I wanted to make this poem from the perspective of a Jew who experienced the horrors of the Holocaust. In the beginning of the poem, I start out with a Holocaust survivor talking about her past, and how the cruelty of the deaths of her family and children led her into despair. This is where the theme of despair comes in, with the idea that she does not want to live, remembering all of the horrid experiences from her past. From this comes the second part of the poem. This is where the theme of retrospection comes in, because she gives a summary of what happens in her life, starting at Auschwitz, and ending at the rescue from the Germans by the Americans. I decided to use this theme because in The Last Days, the Holocaust survivors were remembering their experiences and bringing them back to life in the movie. During this time they spoke of the horrors they faced, and they usually cried. This brought me to express the despair that the Holocaust survivors faced during and after the Holocaust. My final theme is fear. Fear was a large part of the Holocaust, because every single Jew in Europe during this time period felt fear, whether it was them going into Auschwitz, them being taken from their houses, or they families being killed. The last part of the poem can either be directly after the Jews are rescued, or back to the time period in the first part of the poem. This can be interpreted either way, as long as it is taking place after the rescue of the person from Auschwitz. My poem contained three parts because I felt that this was essential in understanding the emotion of the people during this time period. The second part talks about the actual experiences during the Holocaust, while the first part talks about the feelings of the person today. The last part is the person thinking back on all of her memories after she relived them in her mind, and talking about how she survived, but not her family. This poem represents the themes of fear, despair, and the idea of retrospection, all in different ways that are shown in the people during the Holocaust.